Sankranti...

 

                                                                                                                                                       

 It's funny when you think how much this day of a wintry month can mean so much to us Indians..Makar Sankranti for some, Poush Sankranti for us Bengalis,Bihu,Maghi,Uttarayan,Pongal....so many festivities come together on this day all throughout India...The end of winter and the onset of the Harvest Season ...and the beginning of an auspicious phase marked by zealous fanfare and granduer celebrations...With the names being different,the food and the festivities are bound to be different..but each follow the same central theme-The beginning of harvest..and this theme is reflected in the food ..On Lohri,peanuts & til are thrown into the fire...Eating ghazzak made of til and gur or of peanuts and gur is a very traditional way to celebrate Sankranti . Oh, what I wouldn't do to get a bite of that ghazzak or rewaris right now ?? 

At home,we celebrate this day with loads of Pithe-Puli - the sweet delicacies, in different shapes and forms....with rice flour,Khejur guur ( date palm syrup ) or jaggery,grated coconut and milk playing the central characters in the making of these delicacies.Some are fried,some are steamed,some are rolled in the form of pancakes...But the sounds that emanate from the creatures deriving pleasure from a bite of these delicacies are all the same..Lots of ooohhs and aahhhhs and ah haas..and oh hooos....

I didn't care much for this day,when I was a kid or was at home...All the pithe-puli surrounding me didn't wow me that much..I even remember people, Ma being one of those people,trying to force feed me those yummy delicacies , followed by a bout of screaming,shouting and shedding of tears...

But something happened when I went to unversity..Staying away from home,meeting all these new people and learning their culture from a closer distance,enjoying the same festivities in a different scenario..made me realise what I've been missing for so long..what I have missed out...They made me embrace this festival with a new  ardor..

Varanasi,holiest place in the world according to Hindus...and if luck throws you and Makar Sankranti together in this holy city for 5 years..what is created is sheer magic...Fun times with friends on the ghats of Ganges, those boat rides on the chilly,foggy morning on the Ganges,floating diya in the waters after the grand Aarti in the evening on the Ghats,eating loads of  good food , watching the sky getting enshrouded with thousands of colorful kites..and the moody sun showing his face when he wishes to or not....And the smell of the people,food,bovine,incense,frankincense and fog-all mixed together..Yes,if you had been there,you would remember that smell throughout your life.

Those and much more had been Makar Sankranti to me, and will always be,for days to come...Happy Sankranti everyone !!